Book Review: Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

BORN STANDING UP: A COMIC'S LIFE
Author: Steve Martin

Paperback: 208 pages
Publisher: Scribner; Reprint edition (Sep 2 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1416553657
ISBN-13: 978-1416553656

SUMMARY

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life is a memoir, released November 20, 2007 , by Steve Martin, an American author , actor , comedian, executive producer , playwright and screenwriter . It chronicles his early life, his days working for Disneyland, working at low tier coffee shops and clubs as a comedic act, his later days of the Bird Cage, his relationships, his eventual fame, and the reason why he quit standup in 1981 all together. The book examines Martin's childhood, his first jobs at the Southern California theme parks, Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm. It includes an interlude about the loss of his virginity to well-known Christian -oriented author Stormie Omartian and his later stand-up comedy career, which lasted until 1981 when Martin retired from stand-up comedy due to his feeling that he had pinnacled his stand up performance, and felt his routine was become bloated and old, and that he was now also starting to become an actor in movies, and to pursue his new film career full-time.

REVIEW

While this book references a time and movement that is way before my own I was glad to discover that it was still accessible to the contemporary reader. Having encountered several biographies (both auto and not) where the author assumes every reader knows all the period references I found myself being drawn into the world of young Steve Martin with ease.

When I was first introduced to Steve Martin it was already past his stand-up days. In fact, I only knew him from such comedy films as "Father of the Bride" and later on "The Jerk". Much later, discovered his stand-up work and found it delightfully strange. Through this book I was able to gain an intimate knowledge of the development of his career and the life that went into building is act.

The narrative flows easily from childhood to adulthood with plenty of charming, heartbreaking and intimate details along the way. Steve Martin has an engaging manner of writing that weaves jokes and quips so deftly into the story that I often found myself laughing without knowing exactly at what. The beauty of this was that it was precisely the aim of his comedy to have the build up of tension but never allow the release via laughter until after the joke had faded.

In many ways I found it hard to relate to the charmed nature of a 1950's childhood where a 13-year-old could go work at Disneyland without batting an eye. Following that there was the unimaginable upheaval of Flower Power and the Age of Aquarius, also beyond me. And yet, despite the faded and faraway nature of the memories, the story was vivid and compelling. "Born Standing Up" does not paint the stand-up comedy scene as an inaccessible miasma of laughter, fear and failure, but rather a culmination of a life spent in thought and the next logical step from performing magic tricks in front of a tiny crowd of customers.

Steve Martin's biography was touching without being sappy and honest without alienating the reader. Overall I would identify this book as a highly recommended read for anyone who is interested in stand-up comedy. Or perhaps, a world where life and how you got there was a very different road.






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